


calling me to the soft sand

by Arrowsbane



Series: floating in a turquoise sea [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Baby otters, Beginnings of a friendship, But then once he knows Yuuri's not selling them to a circus he's chill, Dolphins are such gossips who knew?, How is this his life?, Merman!Phichit, Phichit also knows everybody and all their buisness, Phichit babysits otters, Phichit being a bro and looking out for his fellow Mer people, Phichit is both curious and wary, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Yuuri is being pestered by mer people, artist!yuuri, mermaid au, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:34:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8913067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrowsbane/pseuds/Arrowsbane
Summary: “Your human ways are strange,” Phichit says after a long pause. Yuuri shrugs, not really sure what to say to that.“You’re not the first to think that.” Yuuri admits, looking out to the horizon while fumbling for his preferred charcoal stick.[Now available in Russian, thanks to audreydarcie.]





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alasya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alasya/gifts).



“What are you doing here?” Yuuri asks, staring unblinkingly at the gossipy merman sprawled out on the sand not far from his small beach house.

(It’s lucky really, that he lives so far out from the general population. The last thing Yuuri needs is the media swarming his secluded home and disrupting what precious peace he has – peace that is dwindling by the day as more and more of the merfolk find their way up to the surface, ever curious about the human who’s caught Viktor’s attention.)

“I came to see you,” Phichit burbles, and the tiny sea otter pups beside him yip and bark as if in agreement. Yuuri resists the urge to find something heavy to smack his forehead against. _Of course he did._

“Yes,” Yuuri grumbles, tugging at his fringe, “but why?”

“Do I need a reason?” Phichit asks as he rolls over, stretching out languidly on his belly. The dark purple scales glitter fiercely in the early morning sunlight as Phichit’s powerful tail curves into an arc. Beside him, the otter pups chitter and scramble over each other in what looks strangely like a game of ‘King of the castle’.

“Maybe I just like you.” Phichit’s tone rings of a slyness that contradicts his friendly exterior.

Yuuri snorts derisively. Very few people actually like his company, he’s been snapping and snarling, pushing people away for far too long. If it wasn’t for the regular phone calls home to his parents and Minako-sensei, or Minami’s random sudden arrivals, he might be tempted to call himself a hermit.

“Uhuh.” Yuuri raises an eyebrow, bending to set up his easel. “Try again.”

Phichit watches him get settled, his smile fading away to be replaced with a cold expression and sharp eyes that seem to notice everything. It’s only when Yuuri is seated on the sand and carefully sharpening his pencils that the merman speaks once more.

“Tell me the truth,” He says, “who else knows about us?”

Yuuri blinks, looking over to where the ocean-happy cuddle session is happening.

“I appreciate the candor,” Yuuri tells him, “but you really have no need to worry. I’ve got no plans of being locked in an asylum for the rest of my life.”

“What is an… asylum?” Phichit asks, the word sounding foreign in his mouth.

“It’s a place for people who aren’t, well, mentally healthy.” Yuuri explains as best he can, “They’re locked up so they can’t hurt themselves or anybody else.”

“I do not understand.” Phichit says. Yuuri laughs.

“If I went around telling people that the mer were real, they’d think I was crazy and put me in one. I have plans for my life that do not involve living in a padded room.”

“Your human ways are strange,” Phichit says after a long pause. Yuuri shrugs, not really sure what to say to that.

“You’re not the first to think that.” Yuuri admits, looking out to the horizon while fumbling for his preferred charcoal stick. There’s a rather strong set of waves curling over the bay today, and he wants to try and capture that.

The familiar scratch of charcoal on paper lulls him into a pretty chilled out headspace. It’s a long time before Phichit says anything else, seemingly content to play with the pups that are making his tail their playground - their soft claws unable to really do much more than scrabble at his thick scales.

Yuuri eventually puts his charcoal down, and pours a stream of bottled water into a small basin, quickly washing his hands clean and drying them so he can eat his lunch charcoal-free. Good for the gut it may be, but the taste has much to be desired.

“What is that?” Phichit asks him, eyes locked onto the small towel that rests on Yuuri’s lap. Yuuri looks down, and blinks.

“It’s a towel.” Yuuri says, looking down at the item in question, feeling rather bewildered.

“What is it for?” 

“Um… drying yourself off when you get wet.”

“But why?” Phichit persists, the idea of not wanting to be covered in water is obviously a foreign concept to the merman.

“Some people find that having wet skin isn’t very comfortable.” The look of absolute scandalised shock and horror on Phichit’s face makes Yuuri wish he had a camera with him.

_ “Why?”  _ Phichit asks in a tone that could easily be a mashup of pleading and, well, whining. The otter pups stop their play, huddling together upon the small of the merman’s back. With a graceful twist, Phichit slides them off onto the sand so he can sit up to look at Yuuri properly.

“Not everybody lives in the ocean.” Yuuri shrugs, choosing to take a large bite of his sandwich so he can’t answer any more of Phichit’s questions for a good few minutes.

Phichit slumps against the sand, his expression lackluster.

“I do not think I like these ‘ _ towels’. _ ” He grumbles, glowering at the blue and white striped fabric next to Yuuri. Then in a move too fast for Yuuri to really perceive, Phichit snatches the towel away with all the speed of a striking snake - much faster than Yuuri had expected a merman to be able to move on land - and hurls it out to sea.

_ “My towel!” _ Yuuri yelps in horror, watching it sink beneath the waves.

“There. It looks much better now.” The merman says, looking rather smug.

_ “Phichit!” _

 


End file.
